Quote:
Originally Posted by iversonian
Maybe Sampras retired way too early?
His last match was beating Agassi in the US Open final, so yeah - he could have continued on. But nobody really did at that time. Here are some notable players I can think of retiring around that period:
- Becker managed his last full season at 29. His age 30 season in 1998 he missed swathes of the season and in 1999 at 31he really only played grass court season
- Edberg retired at 30
- Courier 29
- Chang 31
- Goran 32
- Rafter 28
- Brugrera 30
Most of them had stopped being elite, but Rafter reached a Grand slam final and semi final the year he quit; and Edberg was still advancing in Slams, finishing up with a QF appearance at the US.
Back in 2001, when 19 year old Federer was beating Sampras on centre court and 28 year old Pat Rafter was playing his last season as a pro, the idea of a top 5 player continuing on into his mid thirties at that level would have been laughed at. It would have been a ridiculous notion. Sure,
playing on as a solid pro was a possibility but Federer managing what he has done would have been out of the realm of imagination at that time. Nadal and Djokovic are already pushing beyond what would have been the expected career window. Federer has shattered it.
So what's changed? I think we all have some ideas beyond simple desire and better nutrition...